The legal do’s and don’ts of returning to work
May 7, 2020 – Media MentionHuman Resource Executive reached out to Greenberg Glusker partner, Karina B. Sterman, for some "return-to-work" guidance for employers in its article "The legal do’s and don’ts of returning to work."
Excerpt:
However, be careful about using COVID-19 as an excuse to let people go, which can result in employee discrimination or retaliation claims.
“Usually, [employers] say [those workers] have been dead weight for the last five years but haven’t done anything about them and figure this is a good time to get rid of them,” Sterman says. “My question is, why didn’t that person get fired four months ago, before COVID-19? If you can’t articulate the reasons about what’s different now … you’re setting yourself up for a wrongful-termination suit.”